Digital Disruption? Journalism Start-Ups in India

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Abstract

India’s large and thriving news media sector is going digital. Spurred in part by an exponential increase in internet use (primarily mobile internet), a number of digital only journalism start-ups have been established since 2014. These start-ups enter a crowded competitive market, and must also contend with a media system marked by growing corporatization and greater repression. Through 31 interviews with founders, editors and journalists at 18 outlets, this empirical study examines how these outlets position themselves in relation to current mainstream media, in terms of their business models, as well as their journalism norms and practices.

Author

• Revati Prasad, University of Pennsylvania, Annenberg School for Communication